Long listed for the EFA Awards in December, and officially selected for the Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year, the film which opens in Ireland today marks the debut of celebrated novelist, essayist and dramatist Colm Tóibín as a screenwriter.

IFTN caught up with a very busy Conor Barry of Savage Films, producer on 'Return to Montauk'.

"We're delighted it's getting such a great response. It's a very special piece of work by one of cinema's legends, Volker Schlöndorff, and of course, also Colm Toibin's involvement as a co-writer. Some times in life you're moving too fast, and this is such a careful, considered reflection on regret; I think you can't help but take something from it.

"We (Savage) were the Irish minority co-producer on the project. The IFB would have come of board the project, giving us support - Keith Potter (ex IFB), and also Mike Downey and Sam Taylor of Film and Music Entertainment in UK would have had a previous relationship with the producers. We heard about the project on that basis. Obviously with Colm Toibin's involvement originally as one of the strong creatives at the beginning, that's how we came on board.

"We shot in April/May last year in New York and Germany, and it premiered in competition at the Berlinale in February this year. We're very proud of our involvement in the project. We premiered the film in Ireland at the Fleadh in July this year (the closing film); it was one of the best screenings I've been involved with! There was such a discursive discussion in the audience after the screen - lots of opinions and interaction about the film!"

"I can't say enough about the involvement of Outer Limits, the post production company - the quality of their work on VFX was exceptional! They have been a really exceptional company to have involved."

Conor Barry and Savage Productions recently premiered Rebecca Daly's 'Good Favour' at TIFF, and is in post with Lee Cronin's 'Hole in the Ground'. 'Return to Montauk' is on release in Ireland.

Directed by Volker Schlöndorff (The Tin Drum, The Handmaid's Tale, Swann in Love), the film tells the story of author Max Zorn, now in his early 60s, is on a promotional book tour in New York when he meets up again with the woman he could never forget. They spend a weekend together. 17 years have passed. Can there be a future for their past?

Return to Montauk was shot in locations across Ireland, France and Germany.